Hunting blind

ABSTRACT

A self erecting hunting blind is provided with a quick release opening. A self erecting structure is formed having a first lower loop and a second upper loop arranged transverse to the lower loop. The fabric covering the upper transverse loop is divided into longitudinal halves which are releasably held together by a quick release apparatus. Upon releasing the quick release, the transverse loop halves move away from each other and fold flat against the ground completely uncovering a hunter within the blind. The blind may be used on the ground or over a boat.

BACKGROUND

This invention relates in general to the field of portable outdoorenclosures and in particular to the field of self erecting enclosuresfunctioning as a duck hunting blind having an integral frame withattached fabric covering and arranged to rapidly open.

PRIOR ART

The prior art in the field of self erecting tent structures relevant tothe present invention is perhaps best exemplified in the use of a singlecontinuous rod or wire to form the supporting frame. The resulting tenthaving two loop-like substructures crossing each other at a right anglewhereby one loop forms the tent floor and the other forms the tent roofand walls. The spring supplies the forces needed to form the tent fabricinto a tent structure. The self erecting feature of the tent being suchthat when thrown up into the air the tent transforms from a circularshape to that of a fully formed tent when it settles onto the ground.

In the above described prior art, a relatively weather proof enclosureis effectuated which is readily erected and folded. While such tents arecompletely adequate for sleeping purposes, the same is not readily usedas a blind for example, when hunting ducks. The integral zipperedopening for gaining ingress and egress to the tent must first bezippered open. This of course takes a certain amount of time and isrelatively inconvenient for a hunter who is equipped with a longshotgun. The hunter must put the gun down, unzipper the opening, pick upthe gun, step through the opening, aim the gun and then fire. By thistime, the ducks may be so far away that there is no chance for a cleanshot. Then too, there is the aspect of safety. Since the gun must beloaded, it is undesirable to put down, pick up and step through anopening with a loaded gun.

Accordingly, it is a primary object of the present invention to providea self erecting, pop-up enclosure for use as a duck blind which isreadily opened by a hunter immediately prior to taking aim with forexample, a shotgun.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a self erectingduck blind which is extremely portable and having a folded configurationallowing for such portability.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a duck blind whichis not observable by passing overhead ducks and yet allows a hunter tobe able to see passing overhead ducks.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a self erectingduck blind which is adaptable for use on land or a boat.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a self erectingduck blind which can also be used to shelter a hunter from inclimateweather.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention accomplishes the above stated objectives, as wellas others, as may be determined by a fair reading and interpretation ofthe specification herein including the drawings, abstract and claimsappended thereto.

A single rod or wire is arranged and connected by a single connector andtogether with attached fabric forms a self erecting, pop-up, rapidlyopening duck blind. The base enclosure includes a lower loop which maybe placed on the ground or over a boat. An upper loop is arrangedtransverse to the lower loop. A rod having spring-like characteristicsis fitted to a substantially continuous sleeve provided in the tentfabric, which sleeve is configured in accordance with the lower andtransverse loops.

A slit opening is provided in the fabric along the length of thetransverse loop at the approximate center thereof thereby dividing thetransverse loop into two halves. A sleeve is formed on each side of thefabric along the length of the slit opening. A rod is fitted within eachof the sleeves along the slit opening which rods take on the curvedconfiguration of the sleeves along the longitudinal length of the slitopening in the transverse loop when the enclosure is erected. A strap,having a quick disconnect buckle, is attached at each end thereof tohalves of the transverse loop. Upon disengaging the quick disconnectbuckle, each half of the transverse loop rapidly falls away from theother causing the entire blind structure to lie flat on the ground fullyexposing the hunter therein.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Various other objects, advantages and features of the invention willbecome apparent to those skilled in the art from the followingdiscussion taken in conjunction with the following drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is an isometric view of the frame of the inventive duck blind;

FIG. 2 is a top plan view of the frame of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a side view of an erected duck blind showing the fabricattached to the frame;

FIG. 4 is an isometric view of a portion of the transverse loop halvesshowing the attachment thereto of a quick disconnect buckle and strap;

FIG. 5 is a side view of the blind of FIG. 3 showing partial opening ofthe transverse loop halves;

FIG. 6 is a side view of the blind showing the same in a fully openconfiguration; and

FIG. 7 is an isometric view of the blind in an open configuration.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

As required, detailed embodiments of the present invention are disclosedherein; however, it is to be understood that the disclosed embodimentsare merely exemplary of the invention which may be embodied in variousforms. Therefore, specific structural and functional detail disclosedherein are not to be interpreted as limiting, but merely as a basis forthe claims and as a representative basis for teaching one skilled in theart to variously employ the present invention in virtually anyappropriately detailed structure.

Reference is now made to the various figures of the drawings, whereinlike characteristics and features of the present invention shown on thevarious figures are designated by the same reference numerals.

FIG. 1 shows, in perspective, the rod or wire frame of the pop-up blindhunting structure 10 illustrating the base, self erecting, single rod,frame 12 together with the additional frame 14 forming the rapidlyopening hunting blind portion when the rod frame is fitted to tentfabric and when the blind structure 10 is in an erected mode. The baseportion 12 may comprise a single rod or wire 16 which may be made fromany appropriate material having a spring like characteristic such asmetal wire, fiberglass or the like, joined at its ends by a singleconnector 18 forming an endless loop structure having a first lower loop22 and a second upper loop 24. For purposes of this description thelower loop 22 is sometimes referred to as the ground loop and the upperloop 24 is sometimes referred to as the transverse loop. Thus, theground loop 22 is intended to lie flat against the ground where theblind is placed. The transverse loop 24 forms the height structure whichprovides the blind 10 with its vertical height and shape.

As seen in FIG. 3, blind fabric 26 is fitted to the ground 22 andtransverse 24 loops and forms the protective fabric shell of the blind10. A substantially continuous sleeve 28 following the shape of theloops 22 and 24 as shown in FIG. 1 is provided in the blind fabric 26.Thus, the combination of the spring tension in rod 16 and theconstraining configuration of sleeve 28 forms the blind 10 into thetaut, self erecting and standing shape shown in FIG. 3.

Referring again to FIG. 1, a first rod 32 extends between the frontportion of the transverse loop 22 to the back portion thereof. A secondrod 34 similarly extends between the front and back portion oftransverse loop 22 and is substantially parallel to the first rod 32. InFIG. 3, it is seen that rods 32 and 34 fit within sleeves 36 and 38,respectively, in tent fabric 26. Since sleeves 36 and 38 and 38 retainrods 32 34 and 16 in position according to the configuration of blind10, there is no need to provide a hinge at the juncture of rods 32 and34 with rod 16. In actuality, the blind fabric 26 at the juncturelocations provide the hinging function.

The frame structure shown in FIG. 2 provides a top view of theconfiguration of ground loop 22 and transverse loop 24. The centerlocation of rods 32 and 34 along transverse loop 24 is also shown.

FIG. 3 shows blind 10 in a fully erected mode when the same is selferected by simply throwing the blind into the air and allowing it cometo rest on the ground. The blind fabric 26 at the location of thetransverse loop 24 may be considered as being slit along the line ofrods 32 and 34 or may be considered as being divided into twosubstantially identical haves 42 and 44. As previously stated, a sleeveopening is provided at each end of each half 42 and 44. Rod 32 ispositioned within sleeve 36; rod 34 is positioned with sleeve 38, but,the overlapping is not essential to the invention. The existence ofslight gap between sleeves 36 and 38 is not consequential.

FIG.4 shows a strap 46 attached between halves 42 and 44. One end 48 ofstrap 46 is attached such as by sewing to half 42; while, the other end52 of strap 46 is attached to half 44. A quick disconnect type of buckle54 connects the sections of strap 46 together. When buckle 54 isconnected, the halves 42 and 44 remain in the overlapped position shownin FIG. 4 and the blind 10 is in the erected position shown in FIG. 3.When buckle 54 is disconnected, the spring tension in loop 24 causeshalves 42 and 44 to rapidly move away from each other and blind 10begins to open as schematically shown in FIG. 5. Almost immediatelythereafter, the blind fully opens, as schematically shown in FIG. 6,with each half 42 and 44 of transverse loop 24 coming to rest againstrespective portions of loop 22 which is already on the ground. It may bereadily envisioned that the opening of blind 10 is initiated by a hunterfrom inside of the blind by simply disconnecting buckle 54. The springtension in rods 16, 32 and 34 does the rest. It is to be noted that thissimple procedure by a hunter does not require putting down and pickingup a loaded gun. The invention herein is not to be limited to the use ofa strap and buckle, obvious equivalents such as velcro fastener may alsobe used.

A top view of the ample opening 56 provided by blind 10 is shown in FIG.7. Moreover, since halves 42 and 44 completely fall away from eachother, a hunter has absolutely no obstructions in his way when he takesaim and shoots. This aspect is extremely beneficial from both aconvenience and a safety standpoint.

The blind fabric 26 may be of a screen or see through type havingcamouflage coloring. This allows a hunter to have three hundred andsixty degrees of visibility from within the blind 10 and yet provideshim with hunting invisibility. Blind 10 may or may not be provided witha floor. Without a floor, the blind 10 may be used with a boat. With theuse of a tent fly, the blind 10 may be used for sleeping or other tentliving purposes.

The divided halves of the transverse loop may also be used with a selferecting structure having two or more independent loops which areattached to each other by appropriate connectors located at oppositelocations of the transverse loop at the end of the longitudinal axisthereof.

While the invention has been described, disclosed, illustrated and shownin certain terms or certain embodiments or modifications which it hasassumed in practice, the scope of the invention is not intended to belimited nor should it be deemed to be limited thereby and such othermodifications or embodiments as may be suggested by the teachings hereinare particularly reserved especially as they fall within the breath andscope of the claims here appended.

We claim as our invention:
 1. A self erecting hunting blindcomprisingone or more first elastic rod means joined at ends thereof byone or more connectors for forming a frame comprising a first lower loopand a second upper loop, said second loop arranged transverse to saidfirst loop, a fabric covering configured to fit over said frame, one ormore first sleeve means provided in said fabric covering for fittingtherein said one or more first rod means and for constraining said rodmeans into said lower and upper loop configurations and whereby said oneor more first elastic rod means and said one or more first sleeve meansform said fabric into a taut, self erecting, hunting blind structure,the fabric of said transverse loop being divided into two longitudinalhalves, and means for releasably attaching together said two halves. 2.The hunting blind apparatus of claim 1 including second and third rodmeans for supporting adjoining edges of said transverse loop halves. 3.The hunting blind apparatus of claim 2 including second and third sleevemeans in said fabric halves fitting therein said second and third rodmeans.
 4. The hunting blind apparatus of claim 1 wherein said releasingmeans comprises a strap having two ends one of which is attached to oneof said transverse loop halves, and the other end being attached to theother of said transverse loop halves.
 5. The hunting blind apparatus ofclaim 4 including buckle connecting halves of said step.
 6. The huntingblind apparatus of claim 4 wherein said buckle is a quick releasebuckle.
 7. The hunting blind apparatus of claim 1 wherein said blindfabric comprises a see through fabric.
 8. The hunting blind apparatus ofclaim 1 wherein said blind fabric is colored to blend into theenvironment surrounding said hunting blind.
 9. A self erecting huntingblind comprisingfirst elastic rod means forming a first lower loop,second elastic rod means forming a second loop, said second looparranged transverse to said first loop, said first and second loopsbeing connected together at a location at opposite longitudinal ends ofsaid transverse loop, a fabric configured to fit over said first andsecond loops, said fabric over said transverse loop being divided intolongitudinal halves, and means for releasably attaching together saidtransverse loop fabric halves.
 10. A self erecting hunting blindcomprisinga single elastic rod means joined at ends thereof by a singleconnector for forming an endless frame comprising a first lower loop anda second upper loop, said second upper loop arranged transverse to saidfirst loop, a fabric covering configured to fit over said first andsecond loops, sleeve means provided in said fabric covering for fittingtherein said rod means and for constraining said rod means into saidlower and upper loops, said fabric over said second loop being dividedinto two halves, and means for releasably attaching together said halvesof said fabric over said second loop.